I. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates to cushioned camera cases. In particular it is a camera case without rigid framework to damage cameras when being dropped or jostled and having sufficient cushion to protect a camera against impact involved in active conditions in which cameras are beginning to be used and yet have them easily and conveniently accessible.
II. Description of the Prior Art.
There are many and varied camera cases in use. However, none provide sufficient cushion in combination with convenience for sufficient protection in the active conditions in which increasingly-compact cameras are being used. The trend in cameras is to make them as small and light as possible for convenient and yet steady one-handed use. At the same time, more automation and more optional controls are being added. This makes all surface area of cameras either a section for controls or a hand-grasping surface. Although construction materials are being made tough for the active use-conditions, toughness adds both size and weight. Size for toughness is competitive with size for hand-grasping, for lenses, for automation and for control features. It is necessary to protect the controls and lenses as well as the camera housing. It is equally important for the camera to be easily accessible and yet highly protected when not in actual use. The smaller and more convenient cameras become for active use-conditions, the more it is necessary to increase the protectiveness and yet accessibility provided by camera cases.
The same factors apply to camcorders. Originally large and heavy, television-compatible camcorders now are approaching the small and convenient size of hand-held still cameras. Because of the small size of both, it is becoming popular for a photographer to carry both a still camera and a camcorder. But they impact against each other in transportation and in use. They tend to impact also with accessories of both. In their compact structure with multiple control features on their surfaces, either or both are subject to impact with ambient objects.
Dropping cameras or camcorders and jostling them around increases with their popularity because more people using them results in their use by more people without camera-handling skills. Camera cases typically do not provide sufficient protection against damage from being dropped and jostled against other objects while providing adequate convenience in being taken in and out of the cases. Camera cases provided by producers and marketers of cameras are not much help for popular use-conditions.
A problem that occurs from small size and weight of one-handed cameras and camcorders is transfer of body movement of an individual to a camera being held. Unsteadiness due to heart-beat and muscular movement can cause distortion in photography. This type of camera movement is known as "camera shake." It occurs also when taking pictures from a moving vehicle. Cushion against camera shake can be made to be cushioning protection against dropping and jostling with this invention. To a degree, it acts as a stand for one-handed photography and for small cameras and camcorders generally.
Camera cases in use that provide the most protection against damage from transportation and use conditions are difficult to take cameras in and out of. Nor do they provide adequate protection against dropping and jostling. Previous efforts to provide camera cases with protection against jostling and dropping have resulted in such large and inconveniently accessible cases that they have not been made adequately protective.
As cameras and camcorders get smaller and lighter, their protection when not in use becomes increasingly significant. Because of their small size and weight, a convenient and suitably cushioned camera case has come into demand. Professional and amateur photographers alike are searching and asking for convenient and cushioned camera cases. It is to fill this demand that this cushioned camera case has been invented.
With this invention, expensive and delicate cameras and camcorders can be tossed and handled almost like a rubber toy when not in actual use. It relieves anxiety of owning, using, transporting, storing and, to a certain extent, lending cameras and camcorders. It is an inexpensive form of damage insurance. Yet it is very convenient because cameras and camcorders can be taken in and out of the case easily. Further, it serves as a cushioned rest for some types of photography with particular types of cameras and matching cases.